Agri-Industry & Food Processing

Southeastern North Carolina has more than 20,000 people employed with food processing companies. Examples of products processed and/or grown in the region include pork, poultry, sauces, food/drink ingredients, sweet potato products, peanuts, soybean oil, grapes, tobacco, and blueberries. North Carolina’s Southeast region, long known for its productive land and innovative agricultural companies, has several of the top farm income producing counties in the nation. Wineries and vineyards are also a growth sector in the region due to the area’s fertile loamy soils that are ideal for grapes. Thanks to an excellent transportation infrastructure that includes the Port of Wilmington and multiple interstate highways, North Carolina exports more than $2 billion of agricultural products annually. North Carolina ranks first in the nation for production of sweet potatoes and tobacco, and second in the nation for Christmas trees, hogs, and turkeys.

NC Cooperative Extension– NC State University and NC A&T State University support agricultural extension services in every county of the Region. The agricultural specialists in these offices answer questions, assist with in-field research, and provide educational programs and research-based information to both the agricultural community and the general public.

Charlie Rose Agri-Expo Center - A multi-use facility in Cumberland County, the Center serves as an office building, exhibition hall, and meeting complex.

NC State University - has 19 different departments in its College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and other related areas that focus on various specialties within the agricultural fields.

Employment and Training - All five of the 4-year universities in the Region include agricultural principles in their biology, chemistry and biotechnology courses. And six of the Region’s community colleges offer programs that support the food processing sector:

Also in Industry Clusters:

E3 Project Spotlight: North Carolina

“This facility is the only one in the United States that manufactures the rubber gaskets for Victaulic sprinkler systems. We chose this location in Leland because of its strategic proximity for distribution access to the highway infrastructure and port of Wilmington."